【Industry News】[industry information] thunder and lightning give us a flying feeling

We use the word "as fast as lightning" when we describe events such as speed or action. Nowadays, in the Mac computer interface, there is an interface that can perfectly interpret this word, that is thunderbolt lightning interface! It is the ultra-high speed interface defined by Intel, which not only improves the transmission speed of the interface, but also changes the traditional device connection mode. These seemingly incredible things are implemented by thunderbolt interface for us.

图1：Thunderbolt双协议传输模式

Thunderbolt lightning interface integrates PCI-E data transmission technology and DisplayPort display technology, and drives the channel through a master controller. This enables the thunderbolt interface to be compatible with the existing DisplayPort display (HDMI, DVI, VGA and other interfaces through the adapter cable), as well as high-speed data transmission. It is the leader of the new generation of high-speed interfaces.

Thunderbolt lightning interface brings us not only a new way to connect devices, but also shows us the product of highly integrated interface. In our traditional concept, there is always a "radish and a pit" between the interface and the device. But with thunderbolt, all devices can be connected in series through only one interface, which is unthinkable before.

圖2: The thunderbolt interface has high-speed devices
First, let's look at the bandwidth of the thunderbolt interface. If we look at all the interfaces, even the so-called high-speed USB3.0 interface and sata3 interface, the bandwidth is only 5Gbps and 6gbps. The thunderbolt interface can provide up to 10 Gbps transmission rate, which makes those so-called high-speed interfaces out of reach. However, this is only a small trial of thunderbolt, because theoretically, the thunderbolt interface can support up to 50Gbps transmission rate, which indicates that the thunderbolt interface has great potential in the future.

圖3：Thunderbolt菊輪鍊拓撲結構 

Another killer of thunderbolt is to support daisy chain. Thunderbolt supports up to six devices and one monitor for simultaneous data transmission. This kind of interface which can connect data transmission equipment and audio / video transmission equipment at the same time is rare.

Application field of lightning storage device

    For digital video editing workers, 3D animation producers, photographers and graphic designers with large capacity and high speed requirements, you can store large-scale original files, such as several gigabytes of video material, Maya animation material library and work files, 10MB take-off raw files or hundreds of MB Photoshop files, etc., in the lightning storage device, through thunderbolt ultra-high speed Even if you use external storage, you can also smooth the real-time transmission, editing or calculation of these material files. Taking the editing environment of Final Cut Pro as an example, you can process multiple uncompressed, HD quality, 8-bit or 10 bit movie streams at the same time, and can still smoothly clip, preview and render.

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